UCLA women’s basketball seeks first Elite Eight since 1999

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UCLA’s Monique Billings, left, and Kennedy Burke box out Creighton’s Audrey Faber for a rebound during their NCAA Tournament second-round game on Monday night at Pauley Pavilion. Rebounding will be critical for the third-seeded Bruins in their regional semifinal game against No. 2 seed Texas on Friday in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo by Scott Varley, Contributing Photographer)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — UCLA would never say it “expects” to play into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. March is too unpredictable to forgive such hubris.

So while the Bruins are eager to recognize their historic run of three straight Sweet 16 appearances, they are not content to end this ride just yet.

“No (team) in UCLA (women’s) basketball history has made it (to the Sweet 16) three times in a row and we’ve done it,” senior Kelli Hayes said. “And we’re not done. … I know we’re ready to conquer this and exceed in ways that we haven’t before.”

UCLA has a chance to match its best-ever performance in an NCAA Tournament with a win against Texas on Friday in an NCAA regional semifinal in Kansas City, Mo. The third-seeded Bruins face No. 2 seed Texas at 6:30 p.m. PT with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight to face either No. 1 Mississippi State or No. 4 North Carolina State on Sunday.

UCLA has not made it to the Elite Eight since 1999.

Friday’s meeting will be the third game in four years between the Bruins and Longhorns, including a 2016 Sweet 16 matchup that Texas won 72-64. No one on that UCLA team had significant NCAA Tournament experience prior to the run.

Now the Bruins have a starting lineup of grizzled veterans who have played in 37 combined NCAA Tournament games. This moment is no longer too big for the former No. 1 recruiting class in the country, although the decorated group of seniors is yearning for the next piece of a legacy that includes one of the winningest four-year stretches in school history.

“There is less anxiety because we’ve been here before,” Hayes said of entering her third regional semifinal. “Three times in a row, that’s a good luck charm.”

Prior to last year, the Bruins had never even made back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances. The recent surge awakens a program that won the AIAW championship in 1978. It’s still the only national title to the program’s credit.

“There is a privilege and humility of being able to build on a path that was so courageously blazed,” head coach Cori Close said. “Mostly, that credit goes to the choices of these courageous young women, but to be part of maybe even a small part of leading that charge, it’s humbling and I’m deeply grateful for the legacy that came before me.”

Texas (28-6) is playing in its fourth consecutive Sweet 16, a streak that snapped a decade-long regional semifinal drought.

Texas dominates the boards despite not having an individual player ranking among the top 10 in the Big 12 in rebounding. Joyner Holmes and Jatarie White lead the team with modest averages of 6.0 and 5.9 rebounds per game, respectively.

“It’s honestly about who wants it more,” senior forward Monique Billings said. “They play with a lot of passion so we have to be able to match that and maybe exceed that.”

NCAA Tournament

Regional semifinal

No. 3 UCLA (26-7) vs. No. 2 Texas (28-6)

When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. PT

Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.

TV: ESPN2

What’s at stake: A win puts UCLA in to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1999; winner faces either No. 1 Mississippi State or No. 4 N.C. State on Sunday.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen has covered UCLA for the Southern California News Group since 2016. A proud Seattle native, she majored in journalism and mathematics at the University of Washington. She likes graphs, animated GIFs and superheroes.